Cravings! My, How Perspectives Can Change!

In some cases, pet dogs for people craving children are like pacifiers for babies craving milk. In other cases of people craving children, pet dogs are their babies. Does this sound outlandish? Take this statement in context and perspective from a couple with a deep craving to have children of their own to parent and love.

Eric has always loved dogs, but I have never been much of a dog fan. I always saw dogs okay for others to have, but I never desired one of my own. They take so much time and work. They stink. They are nasty. They get in the way. They are just something extra to have to deal with. I must confess that these views have COMPLETELY changed.

When we found out about the closing of our international girls' adoption, Eric said that we needed a dog. I was still reluctant to the idea, but I was willing to go take a look. Does that sound familiar? "Oh, I'm just going to LOOK." We know how that story often ends! When we went into the pet store that Spring 2011 day, our hearts were quickly stolen by Chara. The rest is history! :) We were just going to look, remember?

Chara was spoiled right from the start, mainly because of the timing in which she came into our family (yes, she is part of the family). :) Chara joined our family at a time when we were hurting from loss and longing so much for something little to love. For that reason, Chara was treated as much like a baby as possible. She changed my perspective on dogs! For example, I NEVER thought I would talk to an animal in that "goo, goo, gah, gah" baby voice. I thought that was one of the silliest ideas I had ever heard of. In fact, I told myself that I would not even talk to a baby in that "baby" voice. Chara changed that, too! Now I talk to Chara and her brother in that voice. I speak to them like they are human (I think they think they are human). Really, right now they are our babies. That may sound ridiculous to some people, but it is very true for us. We even have family time on the sofa bed with them. Sometimes we use the dogs to communicate with each other. For instance, I might say, "Handsome, Chara and Philos said they want you to take them outside." What that really means is, "Handsome, the dogs need to go outside to go potty right now. Can you please take them?" The dogs are also nice company when Eric is out of town.

Getting our dogs as puppies has been fun because we can see them grow and mature. We often say, "I can't believe she is growing up so fast!" Or, "Remember when he was just a little puppy?" Does that sound familiar to those of you who have witnessed humans grow up? Just last Friday we celebrated Chara's first birthday! We went to our pet store to get her a new toy and a birthday cupcake! The cupcake was really a cupcake-shaped doggie treat, but it was so cute. The pet store even kept it in a special "food" case with other beautifully, bakery-style decorated treats . . . sprinkles on top, too! We really had fun picking out just the right treat, bringing it home to Chara, and singing "Happy Birthday" to her. I never thought I would do that, but I did . . . and I enjoyed it! . . . We are babies craving for milk, but for now we will patiently suck our pacifier until God sees fit to give us a bottle.

Our Babies in the Meantime

We posted a picture a while ago of our dog Chara. We got Chara as a puppy in April after we found out our first adoption fell through. In August we got Chara a friend, hence his name Philos (Greek for friend - Chara is Greek for joy). Pictured above is Philos.

Chara and Philos certainly keep us busy and entertained. Two puppies under a year old. Who's idea was that?! :)

Due to the timing of getting our dogs, they are extremely spoiled (understatement) and think they are human. They are treated like babies (especially by Mama Erin). :) They like to be held like babies, they like to be wrapped in blankets, they like to cuddle like babies (especially when they are tired), they crave attention like babies, they like their food just so (particularly Chara), and the list goes on and on. We even call them our kids, and Eric is Daddy and Erin is Mommy.

Chara and Philos have certainly grown a lot since we got them. They have also taught us a lot . . . a ton! We had already heard from friends that dogs are great parent-trainers, but we had no idea the extent of that until Philos and Chara came along! I no longer have a problem talking about poop and pee schedules. :) Cleaning up poop, pee, and puke is not so bad anymore, either. (I never thought I would say that!) They really are great dogs. They fight at times like siblings do, but just another good training opportunity for us. :) We did not get dogs for parent training, it just worked out that way. We got dogs because we wanted something little to love on. They certainly get loved on . . . our babies in the meantime.